Al-Ahli enter their new season with a different look, featuring a new coach and six deals concluded by the club so far, without their moves appearing to be aimed at rebuilding the team from scratch.
According to the Saudi newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat", new head coach Marino Pusic believes the group he has inherited already has a technical base and a competitive character to build on. The Dutchman sees the transfer moves as adding fresh options to a team that knows how to compete and doesn't need to change its identity entirely.
Informed sources told "Asharq Al-Awsat" that Pusic's first impressions of Al-Ahli were positive. He liked the quality of the players at his disposal, the character the team showed in their big friendlies over the past period, and the sense of harmony he feels within the group.
The Dutchman doesn't walk into his new job blind. He followed Al-Ahli closely on more than one occasion, particularly during their run to the AFC Champions League Elite title, and that gave him an early read on the players' abilities and how they handle matches and various pressures.
One trait stood out above the rest, according to the sources: Al-Ahli's ability to stay in matches and refuse to give up when things turn against them. Pusic considers that an important foundation for any team chasing titles.
Games played with a numerical disadvantage caught the coach's eye. He watched the team keep fighting despite red cards, dragging matches into extra time and never surrendering their hopes of victory.
For Pusic, moments like those aren't just about the technical side. They reveal a group's character and its capacity to withstand difficult circumstances.
That mentality, the coach believes, hands him an important starting point rather than the burden of creating a new character from scratch.
Sources add that Pusic also noticed how often Al-Ahli escaped trouble over the past period and bounced back. It reinforced his conviction that the team has a competitive foundation worth developing and preserving.
A distinctive mercato
Pusic's arrival has coincided with Al-Ahli's transfer activity. The club have concluded six deals so far ahead of the new season, signing Spertsyan, Meshal Al-Mutairi, Abu Bakr Sidi, Abdullah Radif, Nayef Masoud and Trincao.
Those moves point to strengthening the existing group rather than overhauling the team's structure, which fits the Dutchman's initial reading. He doesn't view Al-Ahli as a side that needs to tear down what came before and start again.
Pusic has a core of players who know the club and the Saudi league inside out, alongside foreign additions who have spent time with the team and gained experience in domestic and continental competitions. That factor lets his new coaching staff cut short the settling-in period any new coach normally needs to get to know his group.
The stability of several foreign players is a real strength, in Pusic's view, especially given the harmony that has grown between them and the local players. The new arrivals, meanwhile, should give the coaching staff wider options in a season loaded with multiple challenges for Al-Ahli.